The Miami Heat look to take a commanding 3-0 series lead when they visit the Atlanta Hawks.
GAME STORY
The Miami Heat are hoping to take a commanding 3-0 series lead when they visit the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.
Miami was fueled by a 45 point, 0 turnover performance by Jimmy Butler in Game 2 and will need some extra juice to secure a win on the road in Atlanta. However, not everyone believes the Atlanta crowd will be a home court advantage. Speaking of this, Atlanta guard Trae Young said, “The regular season, sometimes it’s a lot more Heat fans than Hawks fans. So hopefully we turn that around.”
That’s the spirit #HeatNation — we are hoping to hear some “Let’s Go Heat” chants in the A sometime during this game!
The Series can often take a turn when the visiting team gets a chance to play at home in Game 3 — but we’ve seen the Jazz, Nuggets, Raptors, and Timberwolves all lose a Game 3 at home so far. It’s a matter of who is going to be hungrier. For Miami, not only do they want to win, but they need to get out healthy. We’ve also seen Devin Booker and Khris Middleton come down with potentially series-ending injuries.
The Heat were able to execute their offensive game plan in each of the first two games, scoring 115 points. It seems as though Atlanta hasn’t card to take the Heat out of what they want, Miami’s success will hinge on if they can execute their defensive game plan and continue to make life difficult for Trae Young.
In Game 1, Trae scored only 8 points. In Game 2, he had 10 turnovers. Yet, he blamed the officials.
Game 3 will either signal the end of this series or put some pressure on the Heat to get a split in Atlanta.
INACTIVE/INJURIES
MIAMI:
- Gabe Vincent: probable (toe)
- Bam Adebayo: questionable (quad)
- Caleb Martin: questionable (ankle)
- PJ Tucker:questionable (calf)
- Markieff Morris: questionable (hip)
ATLANTA:
- Lou Williams: out (back)
- Clint Capela: out (knee)
LINEUPS
ODDS
FiveThirtyEight gives the Heat a 47% chance to win the game.
BROADCAST INFO
TV: Bally Sports Sun, ESPN
RADIO: The Ticket 790AM & The HEAT Radio Network (Jason Jackson, Ruth Riley Hunter)
SPANISH RADIO: WAQI 710AM & The HEAT Spanish Radio Network (José Pañeda, Joe Pujala)
Come back to Hot Hot Hoops at game time to join our GameThread and chat about the game live with other Heat fans!